~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~it's all about the love~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Author Missy Welsh interview and give-away

My guest today is the bubbly Missy Welsh
who in real life is just that… bubbly. We met at Gay Rom Lit and I was
enthralled with her wit and sarcasm and all-around adorableness. Missy has a
new holiday release, Every Time a Bell Rings, from MLR Press coming out on
December 23.

Hi, K-lee!
:) I’ve missed you too! I’m actually finished with the Christmas shopping and
went to wrap today only to discover that I have absolutely no Christmas
wrapping paper! So now I have to shop for that.

1.How
did you get started writing m/m romance? Did you always want to be a writer?

I’ve been writing short stories since I was a
kid--still have my first from when I was 12--but I don’t think I ever really
thought “yep, I’m going to be a writer when I grow up.” I wrote for friends in
high school, like putting them in their very own romances, and I wrote for me.

I got into M/M shortly after buying myself a Kindle in
2009 (happy birthday to me!) and my recommendations in there included “Heaven”
by Jet Mykles. Gay men in a romance wasn’t so new to me, but erotic romance?
Like with details? I was too curious to resist!

2.What
were your early influences either in this genre or any other?

My very first exposure to gay characters in a romantic
setting was thanks to Suzanne Brockmann and her FBI Agent Jules Cassidy. I’d
been in love with her heroes for a good long while by then, discussing the
books with my mom and sister like our own little book club. When Jules finally
got his Robin as a subplot in one book, I was completely hooked. When they got
their own book as leads, I was over the moon and just had to see if I could
write a gay romance too. Nearly a year later, I finished it!

3.What
is the hardest part about writing for you?

Staying on task. Write THIS book by the deadline,
Missy, not five others

and don’t you dare go do any more “research”! I wander a
bit sometimes.

It’s even harder to concentrate when looking for a job and
dealing with the depression and worry from being jobless. When I can manage the
whole

butt-in-chair thing and ignore the shiny-shiny internet (and all that

“research”!) I can get right into that world and make significant progress.
It’s just not necessarily a daily occurrence.

4.Does
any one of your books hold a special place in your heart more so than the
others?

Oh my first book will always be my baby! “My Summer of
Wes” and Malcolm Small are very dear to me for a lot of reasons, like how alike
me and Mal are and the fact that’s the first story I’ve ever had published.
That book will forever make me cheer, “I’m somebody!” LOL!

5.Tell
us a little about your new release, Every Time a Bell Rings.Is there some specific inspiration behind it?
Will it be a stand-alone or do you have future plans for the characters?

Brian Bailey is my MC in “Every Time a Bell Rings” and
my goal with him was to force him into a potentially very dark place and then
bring him out of it. He’s lost his mother to cancer and was her caretaker
through it all, he’s lost the majority of his friends because that just seems
to happen when others can’t handle your problems, and now he’s lost his home
and nearly all his possessions days before Christmas. Some people might head
for the nearest bridge; Brian rebuilds even though it’s painful and he doesn’t
really know what he’s doing.

But I’m completely unable to write something that
doesn’t have a little bit of comedy in it, so have a tissue handy while being
prepared to giggle a couple times. At least I hope I’m not the only one who
thinks it’s funny!

I don’t have plans, per se, but I’d happily return to
visit Brian and Trent while giving Brian’s best friend, Mike, his HEA.

6.Do
you have any writing quirks? (ie computer has to be facing a certain way, cup
of coffee on the left, certain music playing, etc)

There’s a window in the little room I write in that I
have to shutter so I don’t daydream while staring out it. I write either in
silence or with classical music playing really quietly--if I’m downstairs, I
listen to the fish tank bubble--because I’ll sing along and forget what I’m
doing. I’m also easily influenced by songs, so I end up getting an idea for
something else instead of working on the project in front of me!

I am utterly unable to write in public places like
coffee shops because I’m too easily distracted, though I can review or edit
there. I have been known to completely ignore phone calls and write for 4-6
hours without a break or realizing I’ve done that until I have to pee. :)

7.Do
you have any writing or reading squicks? Things you don’t like to read and
can’t see yourself ever writing?

You know, I thought I did, but I’ve discovered I kind
of don’t. I couldn’t stand stories with cheating in them --> I have an
outline for a couple coming back together after one cheats. I guess I’m willing
to explore just about anything nowadays, even if I hate it at first glance.

8.As
a new writer, how did you enjoy GRL? Are you planning on going again?

I loved GRL! Even broke and unemployed, I got my butt
to New Orleans because I just had to meet friends I’d made online, readers who
wanted to actually meet ME (seriously?!), and get my fangirl on for some of my
favorite authors--thankfully I was alone when I met a certain author and my IQ
went down into negative numbers while I babbled all over her *ahem. And it
wasn’t a goal, but from a business standpoint, I actually made some great
contacts. I just went for friendship and to talk books with people who wouldn’t
bat an eyelash about the gay part of it all--something I don’t get elsewhere.

And oh hells yeah I’ll be in Albuquerque! (I can even
spell it now!)

9.What
can we expect next from you? Are you already working on something else?

Right now the project I’m trying to keep my tush in a
seat to complete is a story about a gay college student who’s locked himself in
the closet because he’s an athlete on scholarships but also because he
cross-dresses too. He breaks my heart and I just have to give him his HEA or
it’ll kill me…or my editor will kill me because she wants it too!

And though I’ve said it for a year now and people are
probably going to roll their eyes and think “yeah right, chick!” I am actually
working on the sequel to “My Summer of Wes.” Sweatagod.

10.Finally
– a few quick choices:

a.Coffee or tea — Coffee!

b.Dog or cat — Cat

c.Beach or mountains — Mountains

d.Pecs or abs — Pecs

e.Smile or eyes — Smile :)

f.Cowboys or rockstars — Cowboys!

g.Who would win in a fight – vampires or
werewolves? And why. — Team
Jacob! Um, yeah. So that would be werewolves and because I like furry better
than sparkly. *woof pant-pant

Missy has graciously offered up an ebook copy ofEvery
Time a Bell Rings (an IOU for release day actually) to one lucky commenter.
PLEASE REMEMBER TO LEAVE YOUR NAME AND EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR COMMENT.

Disclaimer

Unless otherwise stated, I do not claim ownership of any of the pictures posted on this blog. If you see one of your pictures here and want it removed, please contact me and I will do so ASAP. Many pictures on this blog are from the fabulous website GAYTWOGETHER at http://gaytwogether.typepad.com/

About Me

K-lee Klein has lived in one part of Western Canada or another for her entire life. She’s a doting mother of three now-grown kids, and has had characters and plots running around her head for as long as she can remember. In an attempt to avoid major writer's block, she keeps the image of muse on her leg so he can't run off too far, unfortunately it doesn't work all the time.
K-lee's days consist of planning her next tattoo design for her growing collection, having a lot of baths since her muse loves the water, and fighting off an abundance of fabulous gay men, large and small who continually bounce off the walls of her skull, competing for their turns to tell their stories.
Among her favourite sub-genres to read and write are rock stars, cowboys, shifters, friends-to-lovers, and opposites-attract relationships. But to be honest, she’s open to almost anything if it involves messing around in the heads of her characters. She’s also big on series—because she has a hard time letting her characters go—and is usually working on a handful of stories in various stages of completion all at the same time.